June 6, 2008 at 7:31 am
I'd like to get some input from others on the use of Database Diagrams within SSMS.
They have some appeal as a documentation tool, but I've been too gun shy to play with them much since they seem to be intended as a design tool (which automatical changes the underlying database.)
I came across something in BOL that implied that some constraints (which were not defined in the database) could be presented with a dashed line but I have yet to find any option to draw constraints without them being installed.
I assume I am missing something. Is there value in this stuff, and can it be used do document relationships without actually modifying the DB definitions? (I don't want to restart the discussion about why I should actually implement the constraints in the DB.)
June 6, 2008 at 7:41 am
I don't know if "implied" constraints can be setup through the diagram wizard. I only tend to use the diagram wizard to actually set up real constraints.
On databases in which I want to document relationships that do not exist, I have gone down a few paths. The nicer one is obviously visio or erwin or another tool that will print nicely and gives you lots of other features. When I don't have one of these available, I create a data source view. One of the nice things about this is I can create relationships over several databases as well.
June 6, 2008 at 8:41 am
Michael - thanks, good pointer. (I know hardly anything about BIDS, and understand even less, having used it just to create SSIS packages.) But now that (thanks to you) I have looked it up, that might do the trick. I need a high level gentle introduction to BIDS, and how/why/when it is used. I was particularly impressed that I could inspect the source data with pivot tables and all. MS must have spend bundles developing this stuff, pity that it seems to be a well kept secret!
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